Is Philhealth Bankrupt? Seriously, Please Protect It!

News reports came out yesterday that the Philhealth or the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is going bankrupt but government officials deny the stories. According to Philheath executives, the company actually had an income of P 10 billion last year up 50% from 2007 figure. Its reserve fund amounts to P 63 billion. Reports of Philheath bankruptcy stems from the National Government unpaid debt of P 19 billion in unpaid contributions. So when will they pay this? The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Philhealth have different computations so the two parties will have to resolve this before the government pays the government owned and controlled corporation. DBM calculated the debt at P 9 billion only.

It was a Philhealth official who first bared this disturbing news. If this remains unresolved "the life of the fund is only until 2016", Nerissa Santiago, Philhealth Vice President and Deputy Chief Actuary told the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.


Hospital fees are so expensive and Philhealth really helps assuage the high cost of it. Imagine seventeen million people in health care limbo if the corporation crashes. This is not a joke. Seriously, please protect Philhealth.

I'm thankful for Philhealth...it's not perfect but it's better than nothing. Many benefited from it.

Don't be afraid of BARACK OBAMA!

Yeah Barack Obama got elected today. Unfortunately for us, he is against OUTSOURCING. This is what he told Los Angeles Times today:

"And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create 5 million new energy jobs over the next decade -- jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced."

Obviously, Obama has a problem with outsourcing. His stand worried the Indians and some of our countrymen. But don't be alarmed. Even if Barack Obama prohibits or limits outsourcing he will only hurt US companies. Today's economic realities will slap Obama in the face if he does that. Outsourcing happens because all companies (at least sane ones) want to minimize costs and maximize profits. It is a natural business consequence. Why would a US company spend $7 an hour to an employee on a minimum wage when they could fork 15 cents an hour in some third world country? It will be a foolhardy decision if Barack Obama insists on his plan. Worse, other European countries are starting to outsource some of their jobs outside the continent. USA really needs to be competitive right now. Obama will be forced to retract his position once business executives complain and the reality of the situation seeps in to his consciousness. Politicians shouldn't interfere with economic realities to please certain constituencies -- its suicide.

Here's the Onion take on Barack Obama's derision towards outsourcing

LEHMAN BROTHERS IMPACT ON THE PHILIPPINES; RURAL BANKS GOING KAPUT

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers will have minimal impact on the country's economy according to the report from the Inquirer as the country's banks have low exposure on the said financial firm:

As a percentage of total assets of the individual banks, the exposures are as low as 0.5 percent and as high as 1.7 percent, according to the estimates, which were discussed at a meeting of the BSP policymaking body, the Monetary Board, on Thursday.

The real problem for the Philippines however are the large number of rural banks going kaput! From the Inquirer again:

Taxpayers will have to shoulder billions of pesos worth of deposit insurance payments should a set of rural banks across the country--controlled by one man--close due to insolvency. According to bank regulators, the total bill that the state-owned Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) will have to foot should these rural banks cease to do business is "over P12 billion" as of the latest data available.

When this report came out, I wondered why this problem wasn't explored or even hit the headlines of the TV news programs when many small depositors were affected is beyond me. I got hold of this issue at pinoymoneytalk.com and I think this is big news. But it didn't get the much coverage. Pity. This is not the first time a rural bank collapsed in our country. As a small-time depositor, my rule has always been to put my money in big banks only. It is better to be safe than sorry. I alone can protect myself from harm. Yes, my deposit is small but at least its safe or liquid. It's not like the regulators would come swiftly to the rescue and even if they do you can't recover your money quickly anymore. Several legal processes have to be done. In short, you will get your money again after many hassles.

THE WORLD'S STUPIDEST BANK - kfW BANK; US ECONOMIC WOES AND BAILOUTS

So what is the world's stupidest bank? The answer is kfW Bank in Germany of course. The state-owned German bank transferred 300 million euros ($ 435.2 m) to Lehman Brothers on the day the later filed for bankruptcy protection. Two management board members were promptly suspended for the embarrassing fiasco. Oh yes?

US ECONOMIC WOES AND MORE BAILOUTS

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." - Thomas Jefferson

Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)

courtesy: alby711 Youtube

The United States has a bailout plan for other banks involved in the credit crunch and automakers are also asking for some financial relief to the tune of $ 25 B. It remains to be seen whether it would be granted or not. And if those problems aren't enough the jobless claims are also on the rise.

It will be the U.S. taxpayers who will bear the brunt of these bailouts but doing nothing would cripple their economy.

A crippled US economy would be a disaster to our exporters and remittance senders.